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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 5, 2009 2:11 PM.
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Breakthrough for Burnside Bridgehead

Finally, some actual construction action at the long vacant Burnside Bridgehead site on the east side of Portland's Burnside Bridge. We're getting very close to the groundbreaking, folks. Excitement is building. It's going to be grand -- a brand new... wait for it...

They're going to hire local artists "to reflect and highlight the creativity and industry of the Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area by making this a dynamic corner." Literally covering up the fact that the city can't even give away this lot. It's all part of the "couplet" madness that will have a condo bunker standing in the middle of the intersection of Burnside and Sandy. It's nice that we have this kind of money lying around.

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If the citizens of Portland only knew how much money had been squandered on the Bridgehead white elephant by the PDC, there'd be widespread support for dissolution of this dysfunctional agency. The number has to be between $20 and $25million to date and counting. Sure we gripe about the tram and all of Randy and Sam's per projects, but with the Bridgehead, we might get a dog park, a bike "pump track" and now a fence. Nice.

Also a little known fact, the PDC paid dearly to relocate all of the tenants out of the Convention Plaza building (on the Bridgehead site) in preparation for the Bridgehead project. That's right, folks. Not only did PDC sink a truckload of cash into the project, they kicked out all of the paying tenants, so now there's no cash flow to at least cover operating expenses.

A major function of the eastside couplet is to integrate traffic onto the Bridgehead site to give it greater exposure (Opus's idea). Ask any eastside business along Couch and Burnside how they like the couplet and you'll get an earful. Oh, and there's another $22million. So all told, the City/PDC will have a total of close to $50million of our dollars in that small, 24 suare-block stretch.

These guys truly are a bunch of Bozos, and they have no accountability. We should all be very outraged. But, life goes on...right?

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 113
At this date last year: 155
Total run in 2016: 155
In 2015: 271
In 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269